FiTxAg04 said:

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Agreed, they're tough to use. I got airline gift cards last year, obviously that option is gone now. I'll use them towards baggage fees this year, so it's something.

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Still that's one hand into another. When you can sell the gift cards that changes all the calculus.

I just did a bunch of sub $100 SW airfare purchases, which triggered the credit on both the Personal and Biz Platinum. Then cancelled the airfare with SW and I'll use them on a future flight.

DonaldFDraper said:

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I just did a bunch of sub $100 SW airfare purchases, which triggered the credit on both the Personal and Biz Platinum. Then cancelled the airfare with SW and I'll use them on a future flight.

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This seems the optimal way to do it.

This is off topic to credit cards, but still relevant to this thread...

Since I was AA Gold/Platinum for a number of years earlier because work made me travel, the last 2 years, when I haven't made Gold, AA has offered to let me pay for a Status boost so I at least get Gold. I did it last year and plan on doing it again this year. I've got till 1/31 to sign up. Currently, it's $595, but I'm waiting to see if it will drop price again (initial offer was $735).

I travel 4-8 times a year (at least twice to the Caribbean) so it seems to make sense. I get to purchase premium seating up front, which I like. And I can do 500 mi upgrades. Plus, now that I live in Corpus, a lot of my flights will be CRP-DFW, and I've got about a 60% hit rate on auto upgrade on those.

Any downsides that I haven't thought of (yeah...the money, I got that)?

And towards the CC side, I've got an AMEX Plat for lounge access (and I can get 5x points booking through them) and just got an AA Executive card for the sign up and free Admiral's Lounge access (I've noticed that I always seem to end up closer to one of those rather than a AMEX lounge). Thoughts on that strategery?

Rule of thumb is if you have to buy status you likely don't fly enough to make use of it.

Centurion lounges at DFW can become full and you can be turned away on busy travel days. It's better now but still can be tight.

Not sure why you would get the AA exec card and the plat. They have a lot of overlap and it would be hard to leverage both cards fully.

culdeus said:

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Rule of thumb is if you have to buy status you likely don't fly enough to make use of it.

Centurion lounges at DFW can become full and you can be turned away on busy travel days. It's better now but still can be tight.

Not sure why you would get the AA exec card and the plat. They have a lot of overlap and it would be hard to leverage both cards fully.

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Well, I DO get the ability to get complimentary and 500 mile upgrades with Gold status, so that's a plus.

I got my entire trip home from SXM-SAT over Christmas upgraded for 2 people (2 legs). And I got upgraded at least 3 or 4 other times last year.

That's the main thing I get with it (plus Priority status, so group 4 so I board earlier and I get the short line when checking in).

And yeah, the MIA Centurion lounge was pretty packed when we went over Christmas.

The AA Exec was mainly for the miles bonus and the free (well, after the AF) Admiral's Club access. Just thought I'd try it out and see how it worked for me...But, I do get that there's lots of overlap.

I found out today that Amex will revoke retention offers if you don't accept immediately upon offer. I was offered 30k points for $4k spend last week on my Platinum, and asked if I could have some time to think it over was told "sure". Called back yesterday to accept and was only offered 20k points for $3k spend. They would not extend the original retention offer and told me the 20k offer could go away too if I don't accept. I said no thanks. I'll call back one more time tomorrow and if I can't get the original or better offer I'm shutting it down.

If thats how this goes down, I will hold onto my CSR until it's nearly increased AF hits later this year and close it, then go for the Schwab Plat.

FiTxAg04 said:

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I found out today that Amex will revoke retention offers if you don't accept immediately upon offer. I was offered 30k points for $4k spend last week on my Platinum, and asked if I could have some time to think it over was told "sure". Called back yesterday to accept and was only offered 20k points for $3k spend. They would not extend the original retention offer and told me the 20k offer could go away too if I don't accept. I said no thanks. I'll call back one more time tomorrow and if I can't get the original or better offer I'm shutting it down.

If thats how this goes down, I will hold onto my CSR until it's nearly increased AF hits later this year and close it, then go for the Schwab Plat.

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Thanks to your post, I decided to call AMEX and see if theyd give me a retention offer if I threatened to cancel. I got the 20k miles for $3k spend offer. I took it. Not bad considering I had no plans to cancel because I really like the Centurion Lounges when I travel.

Just as a PSA, if you've got an AMEX that has an airline credit, buying 500 mile upgrades from American WILL trigger the credit. Just did it on a couple of my cards (AMEX Platinum and AMEX Business Platinum).

Before you ask, I have the Business Platinum because I actually have a business and I just got the personal Platinum. I'll have to reevaluate when the Business card comes up for renewal whether it's worth it. I can write off the annual fee to help offset the AF, so that's a plus. And the airline credit gets me another $200 towards AF. Plus, if I do any business traveling, I can get 5x MR points booking it thru AMEX.

That's awesome, glad I could help!

I wound up cancelling mine because I never could get the original offer extended back to me. I'll definitely be snagging the Schwab once my CSR comes due, so I won't be without one for too long. I really do enjoy the benefits of the card.

Quick question to anyone who has the united club card;

Since Nov.2019, the one time passes that come with the united explorer card can only be used if you specifically have a united boarding pass.

If you have united club card, does this same restriction apply? Can you get in if your boarding pass is southwest, frontier, etc?

Still haven't been shutdown by AA. Must have a huge backlog.

"United Club membership and one-time pass

Effective November 1, 2019, United Club customers, including members and their guests, and one-time pass holders will need to provide a same-day boarding pass for travel on United, Star Alliance or a contracted partner for entry into all United Club locations. Admittance to United Club locations is permitted only at the departure and arrival airports for United, Star Alliance or contracted partner operated flights."

Yes, the new restrictions are for both the one day pass AND membership you gain with the Club card.

Question for those with the Chase Sapphire Reserve. I have been doing research and cannot find the answer.

1) For restaurants that do the $28 credit for you and $28 for a guest. It keeps saying "registered guest" - but I see no where to register them online. Is it done onsite by the restaurant? Do I need to do anything?

2) I see on most that it "counts towards existing lounge visit allocation" - I assume that is for the other Priority Pass memberships they offer outside of credit cards? Is there an unlimited use of lounges?

culdeus said:

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Rule of thumb is if you have to buy status you likely don't fly enough to make use of it.

Centurion lounges at DFW can become full and you can be turned away on busy travel days. It's better now but still can be tight.

Not sure why you would get the AA exec card and the plat. They have a lot of overlap and it would be hard to leverage both cards fully.

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I finally did the math...

For ME it was worth it to buy status.

I get the 40% bonus on miles, that should be worth about $80. Then, at least 4 trips this year will with my GF so I get preferred seats x2 for each leg of our flights ($20/pp). Add in the several trips I'll make for work (getting the preferred seats) and I'll easily beat the $595 charge.

And that doesn't include the upgrades I get.

I currently have the SW Premier and Plus, got the signup bonuses about 5 years ago.

Am I eligible for the Priority and it's 75K signup bonus?

They won't let you keep them and get another SW card, so you'd have to close both personal cards to be considered for the Priority.

culdeus said:

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Still haven't been shutdown by AA. Must have a huge backlog.

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You assume you have little chance of survival I guess when the time comes, eh?

I haven't kept up - any clue when the shut downs might end? Last I heard it sounded like they were slowly going through a bunch of accounts manually.

Anyone know the specifics of getting a signup bonus twice within 24 months for two different Chase cards of the same brand?

For instance, I signed up for Chase United explorer card in late 2018 with a bonus. Can I sign up for chase united club card now and get the bonus? The basic fine print says 'This product is available to you if you do not have this card and have not received a new Cardmember bonus for this card in the past 24 months.'

Technically, I do not currently have the united club card, and did not receive a bonus from united club card in past 24 months.

Anyone want to give me their opinion on my next moves...

Currently I have three cards open within the last 2 years so I am sitting at 3/5.

• Cap1 Venture - opened 15 months ago (I need to call & see if I can still cancel/get refunded my annual fee)
• Department store Visa (I was buying about $500+ of clothes & at checkout I got something like 60% off if I opened the card, my wife shops a lot at this store and no fee so it was worth it). Opened 11 months ago.
• Chase Marriott Bonvoy - Opened 10 months ago to get 100K marriott points. Will probably cancel before annual fee.

I still have the AMEX Blue Cash (no fee) opened 8.5 yrs ago. A Macys AMEX (no fee) opened 7 yrs ago, & the Chase Freedom (no fee) opened 4.5 yrs ago.

I previously had the Chase Sapphire Reserve when the 100K bonus was offered, and the Preferred before that, as well as the Southwest Plus, & Southwest Premier (enjoyed almost 2 yrs of companion pass due to the SW cards). Its been over 3 yrs since I received a Chase UR Bonus & 2.5 yrs since a SW bonus.

I also can open cards under my wifes name... She only has 1/5 opened in the last 24 months.

• Southwest Priority card opened 1 yr ago. Need to call & cancel if we don't want to pay the annual fee.

We did open the Chase Ink Business under her name 2.8 yrs ago to receive 80K Chase URs and before that she had a Chase Sapphire Preferred which was opened 3.7 yrs ago.

My strategy is usually go after large signup bonuses and I don't really care too much about managing the day to day spending. Sign up for a card, get a big bonus, move onto the next card. I haven't been very active the last year or so though so I have some room for new cards now.

We like Southwest points as we travel SW a few times a year. We had companion passes for 2 years but those just expired end of December. I also like the Chase UR's to book hotel rooms/rentals cars/etc... At one point I had over 450K Chase points and still have about 300K today. I have about 50K delta miles as well, and while we don't travel delta much personally, we very well could. I've thought about grabbing one of the Delta AMEX offers to up my point total so that we can use those points on our next round of flights.

I know this is long, but with that being said, any recs on the next few cards I should go after? We probably average $2K/month in spend.

IHG has a 140k bonus until 4/2. Probably my next card.

arrow said:

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IHG has a 140k bonus until 4/2. Probably my next card.

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How far do their points go? I got roped in on the Bonvoy card and those points suck compared to Hyatt.

I think they're considered less valuable than Bonvoy points.

True, all the sites I follow value IHG points at roughly half a cent each each and Bonvoy is ranges from .6-.8 cents each so it could be close. I just picked up IHG because they have more availability at a wide range of values, and I haven't loved the new Bonvoy roll out in general.

And you're right, Hyatt points tend to be more valuable per point, but some of these other cards give much faster earn rates to help offset lower value per point. Hyatt is my personal favorite of the bunch, but that's hotly contested and disputed.

My wife has the Bonvoy card, but we haven't used any of the points yet. I find good availability with IHG hotels on all my road trips out west. The annual fee should easily be covered by a free Holiday Inn stay each year. I'm not sure how far the 140k bonus will go, but it still feels like free money.

arrow said:

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IHG has a 140k bonus until 4/2. Probably my next card.

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Just added it, with my Summer travel will be great: buy 3 nights on points and get 4th free, 10% rebate on points used, status, TSA precheck credit, etc.

I'd really like to get CIP#2 for myself. I don't want to screw it up though. Anyone who has done this using the SSN for both, please DM me if you'd rather not talk about it on the boards.

At r/churning they will not talk about this hardly at all... understandably so.

Why not just get an EIN number for CIP #2? Easy to obtain and your odds will be significantly higher than trying to get two CIP with just SSN

Same here

AggieMainland said:

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Why not just get an EIN number for CIP #2? Easy to obtain and your odds will be significantly higher than trying to get two CIP with just SSN

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I actually have a real side gig and I'm worried about messing up my taxes by getting an EIN

Just earned my second CIP bonus using SSN and SP. Now admittedly, I had cancelled my first one before opening the second, but no issues at all. Happy to provide any other information you're looking for.

mneisch said:

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Just earned my second CIP bonus using SSN and SP. Now admittedly, I had cancelled my first one before opening the second, but no issues at all. Happy to provide any other information you're looking for.

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Sapphire preferred? How did that have an effect? Also how long between apps for CIP and when did you downgrade your CIP1?

If you'd rather DM, or email. Let me know. People are very secretive about this CIP thing. Understandably so.

bumping my earlier question; anybody ever had two different personal cards from same brand and get a bonus for both within 24 months? For example, united club card and united explorer?

Sorry, SP meant as sole proprietor. It was roughly 13 months between the issuance of the two cards. I downgraded and then cancelled this first one after about 5 months of having it.